HE LAUGHED LAST

Frankie Laine and Lucy Marlow

HE LAUGHED LAST (1956). Director: Blake Edwards. 

When prohibition mobster Big Dan Hennessy (Alan Reed of I, the Jury) is wiped out by an ambitious underling, Max (Jesse White), the latter discovers that the dead man has left everything to an employee, singer-dancer Rosie (Lucy Marlow), including his stake in all of his rackets. This causes problems for Rosie because she is engaged to a cop, Jimmy Murphy (Richard Long). Surveying all this while having little impact on events is the late Dan's benign henchman, Gino Lupo (Frankie Laine), who also sings now and then. Max cooks up the idea of having handsome dancer Dominic Rodriguez (Anthony Dexter of Fire Maidens of Outer Space) become Rosie's partner and romance her, hoping to win her heart and hand and control of the rackets for Max. But Rosie may have other plans. 

Dick Long with Marlow

After the success of the film version of Guys and Dolls the previous year, there were all sorts of Damon Runyonesque-type stories featuring comical gangsters, of which He Laughed Last is one of the worst. Despite the title, the movie has virtually no laughs, and no one in the cast is remotely amusing. Frankie Laine, whose character doesn't really have much to do in the story, has no great comic skill, Jesse White is as annoying and unfunny as ever, Richard Long is certainly no comedian, and although Lucy Marlow plays it cute she's not a barrel of laughs, either. Blake Edwards script is, in a word, a stinker, an idea that should never have seen the light of day. 

Marlow with Anthony Dexter

He Laughed Last is not an actual musical, although Marlow is given two numbers and Laine sings a couple of times as well. The one and only highlight of the picture is when Rosie and that Latin Lover Boy Dominic dance a sexy tango together and the movie is (very) temporarily scintillating. Dexter had played Valentino five years earlier and uses the smooth assurance he displayed in that film to good affect in this, but he doesn't have enough screen time. Blake Edwards also directed Bring Your Smile Along, his first film, which also featured Marlow and Laine. It's a question why Laine even chose to appear in this picture. This might be the only time Richard Long was billed as "Dick Long."

Verdict: One tango does not a worthwhile movie make. *1/2. 

MA AND PA KETTLE BACK ON THE FARM

Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride

MA AND PA KETTLE BACK ON THE FARM (1951). Director: Edward Sedgwick.

Ma: "You're lazier than that hound dog we used to have."
Pa: "Which one?"
Ma: "The one who used to lean against the wall when she barked."

Ma and Pa Kettle (Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride) are back on the farm with their brood when Pa finds out "Mrs. Kettle" is pregnant. This of course, is his daughter-in-law Kim (Meg Randall), but Pa thinks his wife is going to deliver her sixteenth child! Once that is straightened out, the Kettles have to deal with Kim's parents. Her father, Jonathan (Ray Collins of Perry Mason) is a good sport but his wife, Elizabeth (Barbara Brown), is a termagant who wants her own way or else as far as her grandchild is concerned. Ma almost comes to blows with the woman, and does give a shove to the prune-faced nurse that is hired to look after the new arrival. Then there's the possibility that the Kettles' old property may be layered with uranium,

Bedroom hijinks with the Kettles

This third film featuring Main and Kilbride, who are absolutely wonderful, is as funny as the last one, with amusing dialogue and situations. One could argue that the flick is full of time-worn comedy devices, such as a frantic race in a car to catch a train and so on, but these things are still amusing, especially with Main and Kilbride on hand to liven things up. There's a great bit where Ma and Pa show pal Billy Reed (Emory Parnell) their own brand of arithmetic, which, incredibly, makes perfect sense as far as the Kettles are concerned. Richard Long is back as Tom Kettle, and Teddy Hart and Oliver Blake make a couple of politically incorrect but comical Indians.

Verdict: Lots of fun! ***.

MA AND PA KETTLE GO TO TOWN

Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride

MA AND PA KETTLE GO TO TOWN (1950). Director: Charles Lamont.

Pa Kettle (Percy Kilbride) wins another contest for a soda with the prize being an all-expenses paid trip to New York City! At first Pa and Ma Kettle (Marjorie Main) have trouble coming up with a babysitter for their fifteen rambunctious children, but along comes "Shotgun" Mike (Charles McGraw), a thief hiding out in town. Ma at least has some reservations about leaving the children with a complete stranger (although they prove to be more than he can handle), but she thinks he has a kind face, and off they go to Manhattan. There they encounter more problems with Mike's cronies, and discover some marital woes for son Tom (Richard Long) and daughter-in-law Kim (Meg Randall).

Richard Long and Meg Randall

Ma and Pa Kettle were introduced in The Egg and I and proved so popular that they got their own feature, Ma and Pa Kettle. This led into several sequels, of which this is the first. Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town is not only consistently cute and amusing, with great performances from Main and Kilbride and good work from the rest of the cast, but it avoids the cliche of New Yorkers being portrayed as horrible city slickers taking advantage of the Kettles; in fact, the pair actually like New York and the people who live there (although, of course, they're just as glad to get home). Ma and Pa exhibit sheer delight in seeing Manhattan from a cab as they stand up in a hole in the taxi's ceiling, and there's a great bit with Pa dropping a cup of water from the top of the RCA building and encountering that same water later on.

Verdict: Very cute picture. ***. 

HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL -- IN COLOR!

Who's the bigger bitch? Vincent Price and Carol Ohmart

HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (colorized/1959). Produced and directed by William Castle.

Annabelle Loring (Carol Ohmart of The Scarlet Hour) has conceived of the idea of holding a party in a supposedly haunted house and having the guests arrive in hearses. Unfortunately, her husband, Frederick (Vincent Price), has his own ideas, and chooses the guests himself, offering all of them $10,000 if they stay locked in the house all night. There's no love lost between Frederick and Annabelle, whom her husband sees as nothing more than an amoral gold-digger. The guests -- test pilot Lance (Richard Long); gambling columnist Ruth (Julie Mitchum); psychiatrist David (Alan Marshal of Lydia); Loring's employee Nora (Carolyn Craig of Giant); and the house's weird owner Watson Pritchard (Elisha Cook Jr.)  -- can only wonder what, if anything, the Lorings are up to. Then somebody is found hanging ...

Carolyn Craig and Richard Long

Discovering that House on Haunted Hill had been colorized gave me an excuse to watch this guilty pleasure all over again and despite its lack of logic and its kind of clunkiness, it is a pleasure. Chief among the delights is the interplay between Price and Ohmart, who are wonderful as the combative and sneaky spouses. We mustn't forget the creepy and melodramatic score by Van Alexander which works beautifully with this kind of pseudo-scary and definitely amusing material. A scene late in the picture with a skeleton rising out of a pool of acid in the house's basement  undoubtedly had all the kids in 1959 screaming their heads off with delight. Hokey it may be, but the flick is a lot of fun.

As to the colorization, which is well done, I have to wonder if it really adds anything to the picture. At least the addition of color doesn't strip the film of atmosphere, thank goodness, which it has in abundance despite its often silly but always-macabre tone. Julie Mitchum was the older sister of Robert Mitchum; this was the last of her eight credits.

Verdict: Perfect Halloween viewing. ***. 

AIR CADET

Upper classman Rock Hudson gives those cadets their orders

AIR CADET (1951). Director: Joseph Pevney.

Three men room together in the Air Force academy with the hopes of becoming top-notch pilots: Russ (Richard Long), Walter (Robert Arthur), and Joe (Alex Nicol), who was a sergeant in the Army but now finds he has to start proving himself all over again. An unnamed upper classman (Rock Hudson) seems to delight in making life miserable for them, especially Walter. But the real trouble begins when Russ becomes sweet on Janet (Gail Russell), who is separated from her husband Major Jack Page (Stephen McNally). And Page is one of the men who decides if Russ and the others make the grade or will be given the heave-ho.

Alex Nicol and Robert Arthur

There is an attempt to present some interesting drama in this story of the three cadets -- James Best plays a fourth cadet who is ousted from the program early on -- but it never really amounts to much. More interesting than the mild triangle business with Page, Janet, and Russ, is the sub-plot with Russ coming to partially blame Page for his brother's suicide (due to what today we would call post-traumatic stress disorder). Frankly, both men behave like assholes. There is, however, some terrific aerial shots, especially when the boys fly in formation with their planes only 18 feet apart throughout and one begins hurtling towards the ground. 

Gail Russell and Stephen McNally

Rock Hudson actually has little to do in the movie, but he does it very adeptly. McNally and Russell [The Uninvited] are top-billed and are more than satisfactory in their roles, while Richard Long gives one of his best performances as the troubled Russ. Alex Nicol [Heatwave] is professional, even if his character is somehow unlikable, but Robert Arthur [September Affair] is charming and appealing as the plucky "little guy" that most of the audience will be rooting for. Charles Drake is fine as another flying instructor, and Peggie Castle adds some "femme appeal" as a lady who can't seem to make up her mind between Nicol and Arthur.


Verdict: Acceptable aviation film with decent players and some good aerial shots. **1/4. 

MA AND PA KETTLE

Percy Kilbride and Marjorie Main

MA AND PA KETTLE (aka The Further Adventures of Ma and Pa Kettle/1949). Director: Charles Lamont.

"I still wish you'd fix the roof of the hen house. Would you like to sit in the broiling sun and have to lay eggs besides?" -- Ma to Pa.

Lovable hillbillies Ma and Pa Kettle (Percy Kilbride and Marjorie Main), who first appeared in The Egg and I as supporting characters, are in danger of being thrown out of their messy and cluttered house along with their sixteen children. Fortunately, Pa wins a tobacco slogan contest and he and his brood become the proud possessors of a new ultra-modern home. All Pa really wanted was a new pouch for his tobacco, and he isn't crazy about all of the new-fangled inventions in his swanky domicile. Then the jealous termagant Birdie (Esther Dale) and her mother (Isabel O'Madigan) maintain that Pa stole the slogan from somebody else ...

The Kettle children minus Tom

It's amazing that Pa has so many children when he hardly seems to have the energy to get out of bed -- maybe that's his problem! Along with Kilbride and Main, we have Dale and O'Madigan, as well as Richard Long [House on Haunted Hill] as eldest son Tom Kettle (who's invented a new incubator) , as holdovers from The Egg and I, and there's also a guest appearance by Ida Moore, reprising her role as a rather dotty old lady. (One could argue that it's not in the best of taste to present a lonely old woman who talks to her late husband in front of people as if he were still alive and make a joke of it.) Still, Ma and Pa Kettle is an amusing enough picture with excellent performances. Meg Randall [Without Warning!] plays a pretty writer who becomes Tom's love interest. There were no less than six sequels to this film, making it a fairly successful movie series of the forties and fifties.

Verdict: The two leads are funny characters and actors, and Main is especially winsome. **3/4. 

DEATH CRUISE

Kate Jackson and Edward Albert

DEATH CRUISE (1974 telefilm). Director: Ralph Senensky.

Three couples have won an all-expenses-paid, three week cruise on an ocean liner. Sylvia Carter (Polly Bergen) is distressed by her husband Jerry's (Richard Long) philandering. Elizabeth Mason (Celeste Holm) is concerned that her children are grown and may not need her, and then learns that her husband (Tom Bosley) wonders if there's any point in their even staying married. Mary (Kate Jackson of Making Love) is bitterly disappointed when her husband James (Edward Albert) insists that he doesn't want children. Then one by one all of them begin dying. The ship's doctor (Michael Constantine) discovers that the company which paid for the three couple's cruises doesn't even exist. Screenwriter Jack B. Sowards channels his inner Agatha Christie to come up with a suspenseful, twisting, and diabolical plot, and all of the actors do their best to bring their characters to life as well as to conceal who may or may not be behind it all. Everyone is good, but Holm [All About Eve] and Long [Follow the Boys] make the best impression. Albert and Jackson also played a couple in the previous year's Killer Bees.

Verdict: Absorbing TV puzzler well worth the watching for mystery fans. ***.

77 SUNSET STRIP

The cast of 77 Sunset Strip

77 SUNSET STRIP (1958 - 1964).

This hour-long black and white private eye series lasted for six seasons and was one of the most successful and influential of its type on television. The main stars were Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Stuart Bailey and Roger Smith as Jeff Spencer. Edd Byrnes ["Final Escape"on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour] as Gerald Kookson III or "Kookie," originally parked cars for the real-life Dino's Lodge next door -- the club was owned by Dean Martin who never appeared on the show -- did odd jobs for the detectives, and later became an employee with Bailey and Spencer. When Bourbon Street Beat was canceled Richard Long and the character he played were both moved over to Sunset. Louis Quinn played Roscoe, a horse player who made money also doing odd jobs for the agency; Jacqueline Beer was their secretary, Suzanne; and Robert Logan [Claudelle Inglish] took Kookie's old parking job, hung around the office, and got involved in a case or two. In the last episodes of the final season Stuart Bailey was the only private eye in sight, the others (as well as "Bailey and Spencer," Kooky, the agency's offices, the logo and theme,  and everything and everyone else) were all gone, possibly in a cost-cutting move.

While not every episode was a winner, the show, produced by former actor William Orr [The Hardys Ride High], managed to maintain a high-standard of entertainment value. Some of the most memorable episodes include "The Duncan Shrine," in which the statue of a dead western star is stolen from a cemetery; "Pattern for a Bomb," in which the gang try to stop a clever bomber-extortionist (with Joan Marshall); "The Gemologist Caper," in which a half million in gems disappears from a gallery; "Tarnished Idol," in which Suzanne goes undercover to investigate a paralyzed tennis player (Van Williams; Edgar Barrier); "Never to Have Loved," in which an actress tries to break with her Svengali-like husband/director; "By His Own Verdict," with Joseph Cotten as a lawyer whose acquitted client admits he's guilty; and one of the very best, "White Lie," in which a land claim dispute centers around a mulatto woman who has been passing for white, and who is understandably reluctant to answer tough questions in court (Gene Evans; Elizabeth Montgomery). The show featured many well-known guest-stars, such as Bert Convy, Paula Raymond, Diane McBain, George Petrie, Pat Crowley, Robert Clarke, Joan Taylor, Robert Vaughn, Jay Novello, Gena Rowlands, and many, many others. Orr also produced Surfside 6, which lasted two seasons.

Verdict: Snappy detective show with a finger-snappin' theme and appealing players. *** out of 4.

FOLLOW THE BOYS (1963)

Russ Tamblyn and Paula Prentriss

FOLLOW THE BOYS (1963). Director: Richard Thorpe.

Liz (Janis Paige) and Bonnie (Connie Francis) are "sea gulls" who follow their Naval husbands around from port to port, grabbing what moments of intimacy they can. Bonnie is a newlywed married to Billy (Roger Perry of Count Yorga, Vampire), while Liz's husband is a Lt. Commander (Ron Randell of Most Dangerous Man Alive). who hopes to become admiral. Unfortunately, Liz is more interested in settling down with him and starting a family. In the meantime Toni (Paula Prentiss), a wealthy woman, shows up claiming she is engaged to playboy Lt. Langley (Richard Long); her parents hope to make a strictly business match that will increase everyone's coffers. Finally Michele (Dany Robin) is anxious to meet up with Langley herself, although for unexpected reasons. Assigned to escort Michele, seaman Smitty (Russ Tamblyn) winds up falling for Toni and vice versa. The actors are all professional, with Tamblyn [The War of the Gargantuas] and Prentiss making an appealing couple, and while the movie threatens to become another Connie Francis Movie it never quite gets there, despite a couple of song numbers. Francis is too self-consciously "cute" by far in this, and while it has some good scenes and entertaining moments, Follow the Boys eventually becomes an effort to sit through. The most interesting thing about the movie is Langely's recipe for a Torpedo: one part each of rum, vodka, brandy and creme de menthe, with a maraschino cherry, cucumber slice, lemon peel, a piece of orange, and bitters added for good measure. Having two of these beforehand may definitely make this or any other movie more entertaining!

Verdict: Torpedo this one! **.

BOURBON STREET BEAT

BOURBON STREET BEAT (1959). ABC television series. 38 episodes.

Producer William Orr [77 Sunset Strip] hoped lightning would strike twice with this private detective series set in New Orleans, but it only lasted one season. Rex Randolph (Richard Long) is a PI who meets police lieutenant Cal Calhoun (Andrew Duggan) during the premiere episode. The two decide to form a partnership and Cal takes a leave of absence from the police. Rex is a gourmet cook who delights in making spectacular meals, and Cal is a lover of old movies who can do dead-on impressions of Charles Boyer and the like. The two men are assisted by Kenny Madison (Van Williams), a law student, and secretary Melody Lee Mercer (Arlene Howell). Just as the offices at 77 Sunset Strip were located next to a real dining/drinking establishment in LA (Dino's Lodge, owned by Dean Martin), the offices for Randolph and Calhoun were in a courtyard right next to the historic Old Absinthe House (which unlike Dino's still exists today). Each episode had at least one scene that took place inside the Absinthe House, although these were undoubtedly filmed on a sound stage in Hollywood. The outside of the building was used in exterior shots and apparently a facsimile was built for scenes that take place in the courtyard. Melody went off to Europe halfway through the series, and Howell never returned. Another disappearance was of the Baron (Eddie Cole), a black musician who worked in the Absinthe House and often commented on the cases or imparted info. Character of strip tease artiste Lusti Weather (Nita Talbot) appeared in four episodes, but thankfully never became a regular as she was kind of irritating. When Bourbon Street Beat was canceled, Rex Randolph, still played by Long [House on Haunted Hill], joined the firm of Bailey and Spencer on 77 Sunset Strip, while Kenny Madison, still played by Williams, signed up with a trio of private eyes on Surfside 6 in Miami Beach. Duggan [Seven Days in May] wound up on the sitcom Room for One More and did a lot of television and movie work.

Among the more memorable episodes of the series: the suspenseful "Woman in the River," in which a young man claims his wife is missing, and which features fine performances from Ray Stricklyn, Henry Brandon, Mary Tyler Moore, and especially Jeanette Nolan. "Portrait of Lenore" features a famous painting that is ransomed by a mysterious masked woman and boasts excellent work from Andrea King and Madlyn Rhue. Marie Windsor, Tristram Coffin and Harry Jackson star in "The 10% Blues," an absorbing tale of a corrupt talent agency that uses strong-arm tactics to gain clients. "Six Hours to Midnight," perhaps the best episode, features that old plot of a man on death row with only hours to live, but is well-written and well-acted by George Wallace, Victor Buono, and Duggan in top form. In "Suitable for Framing" with Barbara Lord, Rita Moreno, and Craig Hill, Rex is accused of murdering a wealthy woman's husband. Most of the episodes of this entertaining series were solid "b"s or better.

Verdict: Good old private detective show with an interesting setting should have lasted longer. ***

THE DARK MIRROR

Two Olivia De Havillands for the price of one

THE DARK MIRROR (1946). Director: Robert Siodmak.

Lt. Stevenson (Thomas Mitchell) is called in when a man is murdered and a woman named Terry Collins (Olivia de Havilland) has been identified by more than one witness as being at the victim's apartment that night. But she has an unshakable alibi -- and also an identical twin sister named Ruth. Stevenson realizes that the ladies have him over a barrel -- one probably committed murder and the other is an accessory, but which one do you put on trial for homicide? The cop enlists the aid of Dr. Scott Elliott (Lew Ayres) to find out what's up with the twins, but things get even more complicated when Elliott begins to fall for one of the women --- but which sister is it? This is an interesting cat and mouse game with good performances that is undermined a bit by some absurd dime-store psychology and Siodmak's rather routine direction. De Havilland is a bit Hollywoodish, but she has some very good moments as well. Ayres seems a trifle defeated by his role and the mumbo jumbo he has to utter. The special effects work is excellent and generally seamless. Siodmak also directed Son of Dracula and many others. Nice theme by Dimitri Tiomkin. Richard Long has a small role as Rusty. Bette Davis played twins the same year in A Stolen Life.

Verdict: Entertaining minor mystery. **1/2.

THE STRANGER

Powerhouse combo: Welles and Robinson

THE STRANGER (1946). Director: Orson Welles.

Wilson (Edward G. Robinson), who works for an Allied commission that brings war criminals to justice, is after the notorious Franz Kindler, who is hiding out in the small town of Harper as a teacher named Charles Rankin (Orson Welles). Rankin is just about to get married to judge's daughter Mary Longstreet (Loretta Young), when another Nazi from Kindler's past shows up, leading Wilson to his door. First Wilson must confirm his suspicions (the audience is clued in pretty early) and keep Kindler from removing any other obstacles in his path, including people  -- and even his wife. Considering the talent involved and the story line, one would think The Stranger would be a much stronger picture, but it certainly isn't bad. Of the three leads, Robinson comes off best, although Welles is a close second and Young has her moments. The excellent supporting cast includes Martha Wentworth as a housekeeper, and Billy House as a drug store owner. Philip Merivale doesn't seem to summon up the proper concern as Mary's father (the script doesn't help here), and Richard Long is a bit perfunctory as her brother, Noah; Red the Irish Setter, is on top of things, however. One of the best scenes has Wilson interrogating Mary even as he shows her footage (mostly unseen) of concentration camp atrocities. The movie has gaps in logic and Welles seems only sporadically interested in the material; the movie picks up as it goes along and has a fairly exciting climax in a clock tower.

Verdict: Some very good moments but lacks greatness. ***. 

ALL I DESIRE

Stanwyck, Henderson [above] and Carlson

ALL I DESIRE (1953). Director: Douglas Sirk. Produced by Ross Hunter.

Naomi Murdoch (Barbara Stanwyck) left her husband and family years ago --there was dissatisfaction in her life, and a budding scandal involving another man -- and took to the stage. The ones she left behind, including her youngest daughter, Lily (Lori Nelson), who invites her mother to see her star in the high school play, think Noami is the toast of two continents but she's actually a lower case vaudeville performer. But when Naomi arrives in Riverdale, Wisconsin, she discovers that the household is divided over her presence. Lily and her young son Ted (Billy Gray) are delighted to see Naomi, as is the housekeeper Lena (Lotte Stein), but her oldest daughter Joyce (Marcia Henderson) wants nothing to do with her, and her husband, Henry (Richard Carlson), isn't entirely sure how he feels. This is an interesting drama and period piece [taking place in the early years of the 20th century] with another top-notch Stanwyck performance and an excellent supporting cast. Maureen O'Sullivan is a teacher and romantic interest for Henry; Lyle Bettger is an old fling of Naomi's, and Richard Long is Joyce's boyfriend. Dale Robertson, Brett Halsey, and Stuart Whitman turn up in small roles as members of the high school drama club. Although I've rarely been impressed with Lori Nelson in other films, in this she is quite good and charming as the daughter with theatrical aspirations.[It's almost as if she got worse with each role instead of better!] I guess playing with a talent like Stanwyck never hurts!

Verdict: Another absorbing Stanwyck picture and performance. ***

CRISS CROSS

CRISS CROSS (1949). Director: Robert Siodmak. 

Steve Thompson (Burt Lancaster) begins seeing his ex-wife Anna (Yvonne De Carlo) even though she's now married to racketeer Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea). When the two are caught in a compromising position, Steve decides the only way out of it is to pretend he was only hoping Anna would help interest her husband in a plan he had for an armored car robbery. So he's stuck ... even though his own father is one of the other drivers. And thus begins this twisted tale, most of which is told in flashback. Duryea and De Carlo come off best, although Lancaster is no slouch. Stephen McNally is effective as a cop-friend of Steve's and Alan Napier makes an impression as a confederate who likes his liquor. Richard Long appears briefly as Thompson's brother, and if you blink you might miss Tony Curtis in a bit as Anna's dance partner. While Criss Cross is hardly a major picture and is generally too perfunctorily-handled to make the most of its situations, it's also unpredictable, absorbing, and has a dramatic conclusion. 

Verdict: Entertaining film noir. ***.

HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL

HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1959). Director: William Castle. 

"Would you like to see one of those heads? Well come and see!" 

Perverse Frederick Loren (Vincent Price) and his pretty, unloving wife Annabelle (Carol Ohmart) throw a party in a supposedly haunted house where several murders took place. Instead of inviting friends as Annabelle wanted, Loren instead invites several people who are in need of money and agrees to pay them $10,000 apiece if they spend -- and survive -- the night locked in the house. Watson Pritchard (Elisha Cook) was the brother of one of the victims and explains how his sister-in-law hacked up his brother and her sister and that the police found many body parts but never found their heads. Nora Manning (Carolyn Craig) has a large family to support, and Ruth Bridgers (Julie Mitchum, sister of Robert Mitchum) has gambling debts. The group is completed with Lance Schroder (Richard Long) and Dr. David Trent (Alan Marshall), not to mention the spooky caretakers, especially Mrs. Slydes (Leona Anderson), who makes a sudden, very creepy if hilarious appearance in a dark basement room [see photo]. The dialogue by screenwriter Robb White is amusing, especially the bitchy banter between Loren and his wife. It's interesting that the house is not some Gothic structure a la Psycho, but a modern bit of architecture that resembles a museum. There are several "impossible" moments in the story, but the whole thing is still a lot of fun, with Price seemingly enjoying himself immensely. Carolyn Craig did a lot of TV work, as did Carol Ohmart. Marshall appeared in a few notable films, but this was the last of Julie Mitchum's seven credits. 

Verdict: Much, much better than the remake. ***.